Past And Future
by Prudence-chan
Summary: Every 250 years, Athena and her Saints reincarnate to protect the Earth from great peril. This time, though, the Great Cycle has been cracked in many points. Shounen-ai, some original characters, a distorted Destiny.
1. I: Inheritance

**Past and Future**

Summary: Every 250 years, Athena and her Saints reincarnate to protect the Earth from great peril. This time, though, the Great Cycle has been cracked in many points. Shounen-ai, some original characters, a distorted Destiny.

Disclaimer: Saint Seiya © Masami Kurumada. This plot and some of its characters are my creations. Please do not use them without permission. 

  


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**I - Inheritance**

  
_"Uncle Ikki was never very close to us. Most of my memories of him are that of a serious, quiet man, very tall and quite gloomy. I never saw him truly smile, though sometimes I saw him grin to my father. He used to visit us once in a lifetime, back in Tokyo, disappearing then to God-knows-where he lived. _

I remember my father telling me stories about him. He was very proud of his 'nii-san'; always remembering how strong he was, how he'd saved him so many times. I guess I never really believed on that, for I considered dad the strongest man on Earth. (Time would show me I was wrong, much later, but that's another story.) But if there was one thing I couldn't understand was when my father said Uncle Ikki was very caring, and had a big heart... I couldn't see how that distant man could care for someone. As a child of six, I never got too attached to him, perhaps because I didn't have time to do so. 

Ironically or not, the turning point of my life came with his death. 

I remember that my father didn't believe it when they told him the bad news. He said something about Uncle Ikki being the Phoenix, and that he would come back from the ashes as he had always done, they'd see. 

We waited for an entire month. But he didn't come back. 

My father started acting strange. Later, mother would tell me he nearly killed himself when he realized Uncle Ikki had left us for good. It took her much effort to pull him back to sanity, and today I wonder if she succeeded, after all. 

His body was never found; even so, the Foundation decided to pay a last homage for him on a small ceremony (my mother didn't want much commotion - she knew Uncle Ikki wouldn't, nor my father). It was just us, some friends of my parents, a few guys from the Foundation and the orphanage. Quite a boring thing for a little girl. That is, until I saw the angel. 

It was a tall man, not as tall as Uncle Ikki but surely taller than dad, and he had very fair hair and a white, long coat with grey fur on the neck. He stood there, at the door, and the sunset light behind him added to the angel effect. When he came closer, I noticed he hadn't shaved for a couple of days... but what got my attention then were his eyes: the palest blue I'd ever seen, and so sad, so sad. 

My father, who had his eyes turned to the floor all that time, suddenly lifted his head when the stranger/angel came in our direction, and I noticed his eyebrows going up, and his eyes opening wide and getting moist. I looked at mother; she was looking at the stranger as well, following him with her eyes till he stopped right in front of father. 

The two men didn't exchange a single word. 

They just hugged each other very tight, and cried. 

Later on, my mother would tell me the "angel" was actually the Cygnus Saint. He and my father had fought together many times, and were close friends; but one day Cygnus went back to his homeland Russia, and they lost contact for years. I remember asking why she didn't like him; that was the impression I had when she spoke of him. She never answered, but I came to understand long after her death. 

She was jealous, and had all reasons to be. 

That would be the last day I saw my father. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, and finding my mother sitting on the floor beside the phone desk, crying. He'd left us. 

The next day, we packed and left Japan. Nothing linked her to that place anymore, she said. And that was how we came to what would become my second and last home. Andromeda Island."

"Reading the old thing again, June?" 

The girl closed the book quickly, turning to the door. Her brother stood there, sulky as usual, his greenish hair held back by a strip of cloth, arms crossed in front of his lean body. She wondered if he resembled Phoenix Ikki, but then, their ancestor hadn't left any pictures with the diary. Of course, after nearly ten generations they wouldn't be on a very good condition, especially considering the hellish climate of the island. "I like Esmeralda's story. What's wrong with that?" 

The boy snorted. "Well, you've read it so many times that I thought you already knew everything by heart." 

"I expected you to be more interested... she's written much about the previous Chamaleon Saint. Besides, mother named us after Esmeralda's parents, so I though--" 

She wasn't able to finish her phrase. The dogs started barking loud and excitedly, which they usually didn't. 

The twins ran out of the small hut in which they lived, rushing to the front. "Spica! Leda! Quiet! What's wrong with you?!" while the girl went to calm down the animals, her brother directed his eyes to the small figure approaching them. 

"We have a visitor" he hissed to his sister, not at all satisfied with the situation. 

She watched as the aforementioned visitor came to the light of her brother's small lantern: it was an extremely wrinkled, ancient sir, whose clothes made her think of an old chinese. "Old Master" she breathed, surprised. 

"Good night, June, Shun" he said on a calm, paused tone. "Excuse me for appearing this late in the night and without warning." 

"It's okay, Master" Shun answered while inviting him inside, still not showing much happiness. "But if you came all the way from Rozan, it means trouble. Am I right?" 

"Shun, where are your manners, please!" June scolded him. The old man laughed. 

"He is right, young one, he is right" and then becoming serious again "Yes, I guess there is trouble, yes. I... have a feeling that the events from the last war are starting to repeat themselves." 

The brothers exchanged a worried look. "Our Goddess...?" 

"No, she is still securely guarded in Japan. The Pegasus Saint is there, but..." 

"... but..." Shun hated mysteries. 

"The Sanctuary." 

_Oh well_, thought the twins together. So, that meant the cycle would repeat itself exactly the same way it had 250 years before? Were they supposed to fight the Gold ones? Then the Marinas? Then the Spectres? Just like every other generation of saints? 

"No, young ones, no" the Old Master read the doubts on their faces, and forced a smile. "It shall be different. It already is." 

His small eyes moved to the two metallic boxes hidden under a desk on one corner of the room. They started to glow, seeming to recognize the old man's gaze. The twins immediately picked up the boxes, which opened. From inside, blinding lights revealed the metallic forms of a chamaleon and the chained body of a woman. The first one shined beautifully, but wasn't comparable to the nearly divine splendour of the latter. 

The Old Master's eyes twinkled with nostalgia when he saw the two youngsters fully Clothed. "You remind me very much of my dear friend Shun." 

June smiled, feeling the chains rest confortably inside her hands. "The previous Andromeda Saint..." 

"... And our great-great-great-great-great-grandfather." The current Shun added, playing with his whip. 

"You missed two 'greats'!" his sister noticed, and the three of them laughed. 

Old Master was the first to stop. "That reminds me of my age... and that I should go back to Rozan. There is a certain Libra Saint who might visit Meiling while I am not watching, and I am afraid there will appear little chinese in my house if that happens." 

"Wait, Master! What about us, what should we--" 

"Go to Japan as soon as possible" the old man interrupted them. "Once the five Kamei are reunited, you shall know what to do." _Even though I fear our nightmares will start as soon as it happens_, he thought, and left the hut with June soon behind him. 

"Old Master?" the girl's gentle voice reached him again. "Does that mean you are going there as well, to bring the Dragon Kamei?" 

He turned his little body to her again, seeming to ponder for a while. Then, wrinkling his eyes even more with a smile, he shook his head, and teleported. 

  



	2. II: Generations

**Past and Future**

Summary: Every 250 years, Athena and her Saints reincarnate to protect the Earth from great peril. This time, though, the Great Cycle has been cracked in many points. Shounen-ai, some original characters, a distorted Destiny.

Disclaimer: Saint Seiya © Masami Kurumada. This plot and some of its characters are my creations. Please do not use them without permission. 

  


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**II - Generations**

  
The water fell, the same way it had been falling for hundreds of years. Its thunderous sound and the chilly, humid air saluted the voyagers arriving at the Rozan Waterfalls. 

"You called us and here we are, comrade. Now would you tell us what's happening?" 

The small figure watching the waterfall turned calmly to the newcomers, and smiled. "I am happy to see you too, my friend." The one who'd talked before blushed awkwardly while his companion laughed. "Shall we go inside and have some tea while we talk?" 

Once inside the cot, the old man started a fire to boil some water, while the other two sat on the cushions on the floor. They all served themselves tea, and drank in silence, enjoying company from the others. 

"Well" the old man started, "Now is a good time for me to answer your question, Hyoga." 

The blonde massaged the back of his neck. "Sorry if I was a bit impolite. I'm just worried; it's been a while since we've been reunited. Should I have a bad feeling about this?" 

"... Yes, and no" answered the ancient one. 

"Please, don't make us any more confused... Old Master" the one who had been silent till then said. His friends noticed his lack of comfort when addressing their supposedly elder. "Go straight to the point." 

"I will, Shun. Our Goddess bestowed a last mission on the hands of her last living Saints." He took a breath, and his companions understood there would come a long speech. "Generation after Generation, every two centuries and a half, the Cycle repeats itself. The Gods reincarnate, and fight. Athena comes to the world, to protect human kind; Zeus comes as well, to breed warriors to protect his divine daughter: Saints. And so do Ares, Poseidon, Hades, and many other Gods and Goddesses from mythological times. Some of them might help Athena and her Saints... others may favour the warriors that fight against us, while some will long for this world where we live. You know all this as well as I do. However..." Old Master paused, watching the interest on his friends' faces. "However, the Cycle has been broken." 

Shun and Hyoga opened their mouths and lifted their eyebrows, surprised. 

"Yes, and I grow to believe we should be partially proud for being able to break the divine Cycle when no other Generation has had the Power to do so. Before, the Saints hardly survived; only two of them came out of the previous Holy War. This time, though, many were spared. The three of us, our late friend Ikki, the other Bronze Saints, a number of Silver ones. Unfortunately, all Gold Saints perished; that itself is a break on the Cycle, for the Gold Cloths used to be the most powerful after Athena's own Cloth. Our Generation had the Kamei, the Cloths ressurrected with Athena's blood, thus made half-divine. The most important matter, the one we shall not forget, is of course the fact that we were able to seriously affect Hades--" 

"What do you mean, 'seriously affect'?" Hyoga exclamed. "We killed him, Athena did!" 

Old Master sighed, already expecting that kind of reaction. "As a God, and the God of Death atop of that, Hades could not have been killed, my friend. Had the Underworld been effectively destroyed, as we believed it had been, this world here would be immersed in utter chaos. Death is the opposite of Life; one cannot exist without the other, or the Universe will be unbalanced. Can you imagine the consequences?" Shun and Hyoga reflected on the matter for a while; then, though their hearts ached, slowly nodded. "Well, but Athena did wound him, and so he has been forced to retreat, which means his next incarnation into our world might be delayed for a few years. That gives us some advantage; however, we cannot lose this advantage." 

"What mission has Athena bestowed us?" Shun said on a decisive tone. 

"We must keep Sainthood alive, my friends." The old man's small eyes glimmered. "With rare exceptions, Gold Saints are supposed to train their own sucessors, while Silver are responsible for the training of Silver, Bronze and the lesser guards. This time there are no Gold Saints left to train sucessors; you may think this will be a problem, but you do not need to worry about the Gold ones, for they shall not come back before due time. Our Goddess told me, on our last conversation, that she would give her warriors a second chance in our world. Our mission until then is to train the Silver Saints and prepare them for their extra responsibility: besides guards, Bronze and other Silver, they will have to find and train the new Pegasus and Phoenix." 

"And probably our sucessors as well, and the Gold ones once they come back" Hyoga added. 

"Yes" Old Master nodded. "We should start as soon as possible. I already sent Yü to the Sanctuary with a letter explaining everything." 

"Yü is your student's name? I remember you mentioning through Cosmo you had picked a boy to teach." 

"Oh, it must have been almost twenty years ago, am I right? You have a very good memory, Shun!" Old Master smiled. "Yes, Yü was my student. He already became Orion Silver Saint. A very brave boy, shall I add. Well, but I have not been able to contact some other Saints, such as Ursa Major Tristan in Canada, or Columba Fabricio at Galapagos... I was also going to ask you, Shun, to tell your wife about this." 

At that, Shun's determination suddenly vanished; the man felt uneasy and sheepish, turning his gaze to the floor. Hyoga seemed to understand this, for he got up and left the cabin without a single word. 

"I... I'm not going back to June", Shun whispered. 

His ancient friend closed his eyes and sighed. "Running away from home is not exactly the kind of attitude I would expect from you, dear Shun." Then, looking at the green-haired one, added. "It is not only because of Hyoga, is it?" 

Shun's delicate looks masked perfectly his mid-thirties; then, with his cheeks tinted a fierce pink, one could say he wasn't but a teenager. "It is mainly because of him, yes," he stuttered, "but you are right, there's more to it." 

Old Master's gaze lingered on him, as if saying 'tell me'. Shun did. 

"I don't know how to explain it, but... oh, I'm tired!" He sighed. "I'm tired of being a good boy, tired of neglecting my own happiness for others, tired of being the martyr who sacrifices himself for everyone..." He hid his face behind his hands, brushing away a small tear that threatened to fall. "I'm tired of being Andromeda, you know." 

His companion offered him a sympathetic sigh, and he continued. "I was... devastated when Ikki didn't come back. I guess we were already used to him dying and reviving again... but then he was gone for good, and I realized I was alone, I know June and Esmeralda were there for me but I couldn't help it, I was _alone_, damn it. Seiya was dead, my brother was dead, you wouldn't get out of here, Hyoga was... who knows where he was. Our little group had fallen apart - I even tried to go to nii-san and Seiya's side, but June made me throw up the pills... I tried acting sensible again, for June, and for little Esmeralda-chan who's just six and needs her father, but then Hyoga showed up after all these years, gods!, I got so confused, I thought I had already overcome it but _no_, and when you called us I told him that and said, 'no matter what you answer I'm not going back'; I wasn't really thinking at the time, you see, but he said it was okay and that he felt the same and was staying with me, how could I go back to June after that?!?" By the time Shun stopped, he was already panting, and sobbing. 

"Does she know?" 

Shun sighed, fighting tears. "I called her from the airport... she's always known, it wasn't a big surprise. But I hurt her, nonetheless... shit, I'm a bastard." 

Old Master approached him and patted his shoulder, as the closest thing to a paternal figure. "Do not be so harsh with your self, my friend. You are only following your heart, and this can be very frightening, requires great courage." He sighed. "I myself wonder what would have been of my life, had I had this courage." He made Shun turn his now wet eyes to him. "Yet you should not run away like you are doing... especially because of Esmeralda-chan." 

"I know" The younger answered with great sorrow in his voice. "I should go back... shouldn't I?" 

"Do you want to?" 

Shun kept silent. 

"Going back will not help you either. You will spend the rest of your days grieving for the lost opportunity of being truly happy. Believe me, this is not what June wants if she loves you." Old Master held Shun's hand firmly. "Write her a letter. Tell her how you are feeling. Offer your friendship to her. Say you are worried about your child. Explain to her about our new mission. Keep in contact. If she rejects you at first, give her some time, and try again." 

"... Yes, I'll do that." Shun hugged the small man tightly. "Thanks for the advice, and for listening to me, my friend. I needed it." 

They left the cot, smiling. Hyoga was outside, sitting on his Cloth's box, watching the waterfall. He turned when Shun called his name, and smiled as well. 

"I'll never get used to seeing you as an old man" he told the elder. "You should be about my age, after all, shouldn't you?" 

"Well, our Goddess did not grant me the secret of Misopethamenos for nothing, comrade." 

Hyoga laughed then got up, looking at Shun and grinning. "Guess we should get going." To emphasize his words, he put the Cloth box on his back. 

Old Master laughed. "Oh, I see another reason for you to contact June, Shun." 

He thought a little, then exclamed, slapping his forehead. "My Cloth! I didn't even think of it. She might have left it at the Foundation... no, she must have taken it with her to Andromeda Island. Yeah, I'm sure she left Japan already." 

"Then it's Etiopia, now. And after that we could go to Galapagos. Old man, do you have a map pointing out the training camps over the world? It could come in handy." 

  



End file.
